Bradley told police he was driving from Iowa to Brownsville, Texas, to deliver the trailer to a new owner after his boss sold it, the complaint said.

By Ian Marsh |
Jul 28, 2017

A 60-year-old truck driver was arrested over the weekend after police authorities discovered eight dead bodies among dozens of suspected illegal migrants packed into a swelteringly hot 18-wheeler in a San Antonio Walmart parking lot, according toNBC News. Two more victims died later in hospital.

James Mathew Bradley Jr. of Clearwater, Florida, appeared in court Monday morning. He is charged with one count of transporting illegal aliens "for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain," according to the federal criminal complaint.

Bradley told police he was driving from Iowa to Brownsville, Texas, to deliver the trailer to a new owner after his boss sold it, the complaint said. He claimed he did not know the contents of the truck until he stopped for a bathroom break and heard something moving inside.

"Bradly said he went to open the doors and was surprised when he was run over by 'Spanish' people and knocked to the ground. Bradley said he then noticed bodies just lying on the floor like meat," the complaint read, as reported by NBC News.

Authorities were alerted when someone who had been inside the truck approached a Walmart security guard. When first responders arrived, the people in or around the truck all had heart rates over 130 beats per minute, according to Fire Chief Charles Hood.

"To maximize their criminal profits, these human smugglers crammed more than 100 people into a tractor trailer in the stifling Texas summer heat resulting in ten dead and 29 others hospitalized," said Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan, in a press release from the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Texas.

Comments

Read on for more of Travelerseek's advice, and tell us what indispensable lessons you've learned on the road in the comments below — or on Twitter with hashtag @travelerseek